I've been at this for ten weeks now. When I started this blog I was pessimistic about the format, but I wasn't totally sure how it would pan out. If anything, blogging for a while has reaffirmed my opinions.
A lot of what Amber mentioned in her presentation about the idea of "noise" on the internet has applied pretty directly. Even though I haven't been blogging as frequently as would be ideal, given the blog format, I still frequently feel like I'm contributing just for the sake of contributing, essentially talking just to hear my own voice. Even this post is sort of just filler. None of this really needs to be said.
Additionally, I feel that the format does not lend itself to quality writing; in fact, it encourages just the opposite. The casual style of writing that works best on blogs is great, don't get me wrong. The problem lies more in the drive for speed in writing that is encouraged. I've never really proofread these posts for spelling or grammar errors, and while quickly browsing through the front page of my blog just now I picked up several mistakes and poorly-phrased sentences. Obviously, nothing is stopping me from spending more time making sure that mistakes don't slip through, but that's not really what's foremost in my mind when I'm trying to write quick, short posts.
Overall I don't think there's anything really "wrong" with blogs, in general terms. But the "background noise" issue still stands. The amount of existing blogs is staggering, and it seems pretty dubious that each and every single one of those bloggers is really saying much. So in the end it's not that I have a problem with people blogging - let people write whatever they like - but I still can't bring myself to care much, negatively or positively.
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